Author: Eric Gilbert

With a maximum of only 11.9C on Saturday, being 2.2C below average followed by a hard frost with a minimum of -2.9C being 6.6C below average, it did not feel very Springlike in terms of warmth. At least we did have several hours of welcome sunshine on Saturday.

During the sunny periods the UV level rose to 4.4 being at the top end of the ‘Moderate’ range and the highest since 17th September.

Sunday brought sunshine from the start although very thin, high cloud was observed. The sunshine lifted the temperature to only 2.0C at 08.00 after the very cold night. The barometric pressure has risen further with a current pressure of 1020.1mb, however, with Atlantic depressions looming to the west this will soon begin to fall again.

The thermometer on Friday again struggled to reach 11.6C, the same as on Thursday and 2.5C below the average. Overnight the temperature dropped below freezing with a minimum of -0.8C at 06.36 Saturday.

Saturday arrived with sunshine that soon dispersed the frost reaching 3.1C at 08.00. The humidity of 83%, the second lowest this month, indicates the presence of drier air on the northwest to north-northwest air stream

The barometric pressure has been rising with a reading of 1015.8mm at 08.00, which is a rise of 17mb since this tine on Friday as a ridge of high pressure crosses the country.

The cold front brought cooler air as it’s name implies and a change in wind direction from southwest to west, also a cooler direction. As a result the thermometer struggled to reach 11.6C on Thursday being 2.5C below the 38-year average. In the morning to was gusting to 35mph.

Clearing skies, after much sunshine during daylight hours, brought a cool night with the thermometer dropping to a minimum of 1.2C. This was also below average for April (-2.5C) that produced a temporary ground frost.

The barometric pressure is beginning to slowly rise as high pressure edges in from the west with a reading of 998.2mb at 08.00 under cloudy skies.

Wednesday brought frequent showers during daylight hours that reinvigorated after midnight producing 11.6mm of rainfall. That made it the wettest day since 16th March (16.4mm) and brought the monthly total to 26.2mm when the average is 57.7mm.

It was a cool day with the southwesterly wind brisk and moderating temperatures so that the maximum of 12.7C was 1.4C below the average.

The past night was mild, due to the cloud cover, with a minimum of 6.4C being 2.7C above the average.

Thursday dawned with broken cloud and intermittent sunshine as the wind veered a few degrees into the west and strengthened with a peak gust of 30mph at 06.37.

The barometric pressure fell to its lowest for almost a month with a low of 985.3mb at 05.45 Thursday, now beginning to rise again.

The thermometer only rose to 12.9C (1.2C below average) on Tuesday thanks to minimal sunshine and a blustery westerly breeze. The rainfall for the past twenty-four hours was just 0.4mm. As a cold front crosses the area this morning there are likely to be further rain showers.

Due to cloud cover it has been a mild night with the thermometer not dropping below 8.7C being 5C above the 38-year average.

The barometric pressure has been falling for the past four days and reached a low of 999.7mb at 08.00 on Wednesday, the lowest for almost a month.

Wednesday dawned under leaden skies and intermittent light rain with the wind having backed into the southwest.